Notes on a scorecard: Spurs finding different way to win almost nightly

The Spurs came into Friday’s game leading the league in 3-point percentage and scoring at their highest levels since the days of Bob Weiss.

You would have thought the Spurs would need another big game offensively to beat Utah on their home floor.

So what did they do? Merely turn their best defensive effort of the season to charge to a 94-82 victory.

The Spurs limited Utah to 14 points in the first quarter and 14 in the fourth quarter to claim their ninth-straight victory and improve to an NBA-best 10-1 record. The Jazz were limited to 42 percent shooting as they scored their fewest points in a home game this season.

It was an impressive performance that showed the different ways that Gregg Popovich’s team could win. It also enabled them to streak to the fastest start in franchise history. It was a night for all kinds of milestones, which we’ll get into later.

Here’s a point-by-point look at how the Spurs got another victory.

• Tim Duncan became the leading scorer in the Spurs’ NBA history by jumping into the way-back machine. His 19-point, 14-rebound, four-assist, three-blocked shot effort was like so many he’s produced against the Jazz over the years. And after his unprecdented three-game streak without a double-figure scoring game last week, he has merely bounced back to average 17.5 points, 16 rebounds and 4.5 assists in his last two games. It would be wise not to write him off yet.

• Outstanding game tonight from Tony Parker, who merely outplayed one of the league’s best point guards on his home court. Parker outscored Deron Williams, 24-23, but it was the other parts of his game that really underscored Parker’s effort. Both had four rebounds, but Parker beat him in assists, 7-5, and in steals, 4-0. And Parker was an efficient 11-for-17 from the field, compared to 7-for-19 for Williams. Parker was a plus-21, tied for the highest on the team. Williams was minus-10. It marked the fifth straight game that Parker has scored at least 20 points — with the last two coming when his life was under extreme (putting it mildly) public scrutiny.

• Manu Ginobili struggled through a tough shooting night, hitting only 5 of 15 from the field. He’s hit only 39 percent in his last three games, struggling through his two worst games and a run of five consecutive misses against Chicago on Wednesday night.

• The biggest reason for San Antonio’s success was a 46-31 edge on the boards. The Spurs grabbed 16 offensive rebounds, including six apiece from DeJuan Blair and Duncan. Duncan had 14 rebounds and Blair had eight. No Utah player had more than seven.

• The Spurs did a nice job in limiting the rest of the Utah team outside of Williams. Paul Millsap was limited to 12 points — one off his season low. Al Jefferson had 10 points, a total he’s only been below twice this season. And Andrei Kirilenko clanked his way through a 3-for-10 shooting night with four turnovers. So it wasn’t the best of nights for the Utah front line.

• After shooting well from the foul line in recent games, the Spurs had their struggles Friday night hitting only 70.8 percent. They started well by hitting their first seven foul shots before hitting only 10 of 17 during the rest of the game. That total must improve.

• Matt Bonner suffered back spasms late in the Chicago game. It looked like his back was bothering him at Friday’s game as he missed all six shots from the field, including all three 3-point attempts. Maybe a basic turkey sandwich might have some medicinal values for him before Saturday’s game against Cleveland.

• Speaking of Saturday night, it would not surprise me to see a lot of Tiago Splitter Saturday night against Cleveland. It will be the back-end of a back-to-back and represents a potential break to rest or allow Duncan to sit out the game completely. Saturday’s game will be the Spurs’ third game in the last four nights. Toss in a tough battle Monday night against Dwight Howard and Orlando and the Spurs will have played a rigorous four games in six nights. Saturday’s game looks like a logical game to give Duncan a night off.

• Four San Antonio starters were at least plus-18 in plus-minus Friday night, including Blair and Duncan at plus-21. All five Utah starters were at least minus-10, led by Jefferson at minus-18 and Kirilenko at minus-17.

• Utah never led in the game and fell into an early hole against San Antonio’s defensive presure. The Spurs forced six turnovers in the first 8 1/2 minutes and cruised from there in their best defensive effort of the season.

Tim Griffin

4 Responses

Winning is a cure all for teams shortcomings. The Spurs are 10-1 for the season winning is lot more fun than loosing. Tim is still a threat, he will not be 20 something again, but he is still a player that requires defensive attention and his defensive end play is still strong. DeJuan Blair is great rebounder but his offensive shortcomings need to be addressed-no outside shot-big time problem. Splitter has not played in the last 2 games which is problematic should he pressed to play major minutes tonight against Cleveland. Tiago needs minutes to bang and to familiarize himself with teammates spots. Hopefully Pop will utilize Tiago tonight and let Tim rest since the man-child from Orlando will be up next game and it will take all of the bigs on the team to bang on him Monday evening. The season so far has shown this years Spurs can close out games, but then it is early and the real measure of this Spurs team will be at the end of the season. Team defense is showing an improvement but there is still lots of work to do, the Spurs are still giving up lots of points which is not Spurs ball. Tonight the Spurs will be tested since Cleveland is a different team from last year, hopefully the Spurs will not have a mental letdown. Win streaks are fun but they can also be mentally fatiguing, the big 3 will need to remind the team the importance sticking to playing Spurs ball on both ends of the court.

The so called “do not belong to the elite point guards” is actually playing with more assists than the other “elite point guards”! Tony is playing so well and he is getting more steals. Nah, tony Parker isnt just a scoring machine. He’s more than what the critics are thinking. Congrats TD! Many are writing you off but We know that when you turn your game on, you’re a totally diffrent player thus, When TD scores below double digits doesnt mean he’s not a factor coz he will always be a Spurs anchor. Go Spurs Go!